Infinite Circles
by RedKetchup
Summary: AU: Don't go causing problems for others, Zoro. Someone will just have to clean up your mess.
1. Messes

Roronoa Zoro had been having one of the worst weeks in his life. It wasn't an understatement, nor was it an overstatement. It was just a statement.

_Whenever he was in a slump he always made himself remember the days when she was around. It was somewhat a masochist thing for him to do, making himself remember the raw pain that leaves his heart aching, but it did get him through whatever downslide he was living with at the time._

He had just recently transferred schools. His last academy had had him expelled after he had viciously broken another student's nose. Although, Zoro was pretty sure that might not have been the only reason.

_"Did you hear that Roronoa Zoro had finally been kicked out?" Zoro couldn't see his face from where he was sitting, but he was going to call him Asshole since the guy's voice was giving him a headache._

_"Is he the green-haired guy who looks like a yakuza member? The one who falls asleep in class all the time?" a high feminine voice whispered back loudly._

_"Yeah him! I was never really sure if he was a gang member until he finally punched that Helmeppo kid. And that guy is the student council president, Roronoa must have been out of his mind to hit him!"_

_"He's like a demon...!"_

So instead of having to just take a fifteen minute walk to go to work after classes, he'd have to take about a thirty minute subway ride. Plus, when he was done with his shift he'd have make his way through those damn backstreet allies to get back to his apartment. Some nights he felt like it took ages to get back home.

_"Maybe if Zoro-aniki had any sense of direction he could make it home at a decent time," Johnny had said one day at work, unaware that Zoro was right behind him._

_Yosaku's frantic waving of his arms didn't help Johnny shut his mouth until it was too late._

It was three days before Zoro was to go to his new school, and he had been spending it walking aimlessly around downtown. He was thinking about going to his favorite bar down on 6th avenue, the one where they secretly let him drink sake and other alcohol even though he was underage, when he had heard a soft cry of fear from across the street.

"Ehh...?" the teen had voiced, looking for the source of the cry.

And that was when his gaze located an ugly yet familiar face, one with knuckle marks on the side of its nose. Zoro felt the corner of his mouth tug downwards into an angry frown.

It was that bratty kid Helmeppo.

Zoro found his feet lazily making their way across the street, watching as the people on the sidewalks nervously hurried away at the scene Helmeppo was making. A little girl was backed against the wall of an apartment building, her lower lip barely quivering in an attempt to cover up her fear. The blond and his pals formed a semicircle around her, laughing at her fear as though it was good show.

Zoro curved around a group of people that were quickly passing him, making him brush by an old woman on a bench.**  
**

Brat-face, as Helmeppo was now dubbed in Zoro's head, gave out an obnoxious laugh as he said something to the girl.

"Sonny, I wouldn't interfere if I were you," the old woman quietly called out to him.

The green-haired boy stopped and turned to her in half-interest. So the people in this neighborhood didn't like messing with fights, but that didn't mean that he would just stand around and let it happen.

"That boy is apart of that old man Morgan's family. You don't mess with Axe-Hand Morgan or his child without consequence," she said gravely, her eyes burning with something that looked like smothered regret.

Zoro stared at her for a moment, taking note of the stress that he heard in her voice.

"Never heard of him," he grunted, turning to continue to the problem at hand.

He could feel the woman's completely shocked gaze through his back.

"Wait!" she cried.

As Zoro neared the scene he noticed that Brat-face had brought some dog with him, keeping it tied to a leash as it snapped at the girl's feet. The girl had herself pressed against the brick wall as much as she could, trying to keep the dog's snarling mouth from her.

"This is what you get for getting in my dog's way! Don't you know I'm being nice? I could get my father after you instead!" the blond jeered at her, leaning in as the dog pulled violently at its leash.

At that moment Helmeppo let go of the only thing preventing the dog from attacking the girl, and the dog immediately took to launching itself at her.

Zoro took three large leaps and in a hurry he took the momentum to kick the dog aside. The mammal gave a yelp of pain as it skid across the sidewalk before getting up and running off in the other direction.

"Ah! Don't go boy!" Brat-face shouted before he whirled around angrily to face Zoro. A flash of fear crossed his face before he quickly covered it up.

"It's you! Teme!" he growled angrily.

Zoro should have had an award for the best way to make someone to feel worthless just with the raise of an eyebrow.

"Are you alright?" Zoro turned and asked the girl, completely ignoring Helmeppo.

The girl looked at him with damp and wide eyes before shakily nodding.

"H-hai! Domo arigato!" she squeaked.

Zoro nodded.

"Now listen here Roronoa! Don't think you'll get away with this!" Brat-face's voice disrupted.

Zoro took this moment to notice that the street had been mostly cleared out, with only some faces peering out of windows and doors. It left the area very quiet, with a few whispers reaching his ears here and there. It was odd, leaving the teen faintly nonplussed. He put it out of his head after a moment of thinking it over and turned back to face Helmeppo.

"And what are you going to do?" Zoro challenged quietly, but his voice spoke volumes.

He could see how Helmeppo hesitated at the other man's challenge, but Zoro was not expecting the brat to smirk instead of backing off.

"How about a deal Roronoa? I'll leave this girl and her mother alone, I won't even send any of my people after them," Helmeppo started, showing some teeth in his cheeky grin.

Zoro paused, remembering how the old woman warned him about not messing with Brat-face and how all the people had cleared the area in minutes.

Ah, he understood now. Helmeppo was a part of some shady business, whether it was a gang or some mob, but whatever it was it obviously caused enough problems for these people.

"But, you must take the punishment instead," Brat-face finished.

The little girl inhaled sharply, finally coming back to the situation at hand.

"That's not fair! Leave him alone, Helmeppo!" she cried, stepping forward only to be stopped by Zoro's outstretched hand.

Zoro grit his teeth angrily.

_"What's wrong with you, Zoro?" her smirk graced her appearance, giving her an air of confidence._

_He 'tsk'ed angrily and wiped the sweat off his face quickly. Her dark eyes twinkled mischievously._

_"Don't go making more problems for others. Now I have to clean up after you," she huffed, looking down upon him._

"Fine," he snapped.


	2. Broken Ankle

They had left him as a bloody mess afterwards, tying his arms and waist too tightly to the telephone pole. The blood had dried and stuck to his face after a while, leaving the stench to burn in his nostrils.

He tried shifting to his left leg a little more since his right ankle felt like a bitch.

Zoro sighed, he could be patient. He had to be patient. This was nothing, literally it was.

What would it matter anyway, being stuck to a telephone pole in an area where no one would come find him? It was apart of some warehouse district on the far side of town. On the side of the warehouses was the label "Morgan Industries."

Zoro doubted anyone would be coming anytime soon.

_"You don't have to go! Don't!" the little girl, whose name was Rika he had discovered, sobbed._

_She pulled at his sleeve desperately, not moving him at all. She froze when he looked down at her._

_"It'll be fine," he soothed, the tip of his lips barely tilted upwards in a casual smirk._

It really would be fine, after all he didn't have anyone to come get him and he didn't have anyone who he wanted to come. Well, maybe Johnny and Yosaku would come or even some of the guys at the bar would be worried.

It was all just a stupid matter.

...He thinks his right ankle is broken.


	3. Bento

The little girl found him on the second day. She was carrying a small bento, yet was looking around cautiously. She was probably looking for Helmeppo.

"I brought you a bento. I made it myself," she said as she walked up to him after checking to make sure they were alone.

Zoro stared as she outstretched her small arms towards him to hold up the meal she brought for him.

He knew she was waiting for him to acknowledge her offering, yet he merely closed his eyes and leaned against the pole.

"You shouldn't be here. You're parents are probably worried."

Her shoulders slumped and she looked dejected at his statement, but she didn't go anywhere.

"I only have my mom, and I'll just be gone for a moment. Besides, what about your friends or family? Won't they be worried, too?"

He doesn't answer and just stared at her troubled expression.

_Kuina, even though she was always so determined and so strong, always had the lingerings of sadness in her eyes. It used to drive him insane._

Zoro sighed and then said, "Leave the bento over by those barrels. I'll eat it when I'm done with this damn deal that I have with Helmeppo."

Her eyes brightened considerably and she looked up to him.

"It'll go bad," she said.

"That's fine."


	4. What Happens

"Oi! What are you doing?" Zoro rasped, trying to move away from the offending hands although he had nowhere to go.

The hands stopped and dropped to the man's sides. He blinked like Zoro just asked something stupid.

"You're going to become my friend, so I'm going to untie you," he says, explaining it slowly like Zoro was a idiot.

Zoro is wondering if he's starting to hallucinate from not eating.

"I refuse!" he spits at the kid's sandals for good measure.

The kid smiles, the scar under his eye pulling tightly and crinkling. The kid shows all his teeth and laughs long and full.

His shorts are cut offs that end at his knees and his shirt is unbuttoned and untucked. It looks like a school uniform shirt, minus the tie that is supposed to be around the collar. It's late autumn so Zoro is not sure how the kid is not cold. He doesn't really care though.

"Nope! You're definitely going to become my friend," the stupid kid laughs.

"Baka!" Zoro snaps, because for whatever reason he feels the urge to instantly respond.

His emotions are really high for some reason, he feels like he did whenever Kuina used to taunt him.

He's having a minor panic attack since he hasn't felt this way for a long time.

"I can't leave! I just have a few more weeks and then that brat will let me go. I don't intend to break my promise," Zoro says irritably, his eye twitching in annoyance.

The kid blinks like he is remembering something, there is a faint sign of anger in his eyes. Zoro knows it isn't directed at him. Zoro quickly looks away, refusing to acknowledge the brat. He notices a head of pink hair out of the corner of his eye. It is hovering on the edge of one of the buildings and is frantically waving his arms to the kid's back.

"You know, what happens is what happens," the kid says, his smile returning.

The kid waggles his eyebrows and snickers mischievously.

...What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Zoro secretly gulps.


	5. Bad Mood

Kuina visits him on the fourth night. He missed his first day of school, but he doubted any of the teachers would care since his reputation has him listed as 'Dangerous.'

_"Stop pushing people away, you make yourself seem like a dramatic loner," she laughs, no worries hidden behind her words._

_She had never been as light-hearted when she was alive._

With that thought Zoro jerks awake, his head hitting the telephone pole with his flurry of movement. He's looking around the empty lot desperately before his mind comprehends that he is still tied to a pole and that Kuina was still dead.

...Reality was harsh like that.

Zoro tries to swallow to quench his parched throat.

"Helloooo Roronoa!" a voice singsongs from the far side of the space.

Zoro frowns and looks up to see Helmeppo carrying Rika by the cuff of her shirt. Helmeppo has a black eye, much to Zoro's surprise. His friends are trailing behind awkwardly, like they don't know how to turn their eyes away without being within the situation.

Damn cowards.

Zoro keeps quiet as Helmeppo makes himself stand a few meters away from Zoro's spot. He tosses Rika carelessly to the ground, her knees scraping painfully.

Zoro bites the inside of his lip to keep from telling Rika to hide her tears.

"Were you planning to break our promise? Did you want this little girl to come untie you?" Brat-face coons, faking an upset expression.

Zoro's throat is tightening in anger. He keeps his promises damn it all, he keeps them! Stupid girl, coming and getting herself in trouble like this.

Helmeppo sighs and taps his foot in thought. He turns to look to one of his friends and tells them to toss Rika over the wall. Brat-face says it with so much ease that it catches his friend off-guard.

"Do it now, or I'll tell my father," he says.

The man blinks twice before slowly turning to Rika. He shakily picks her up and makes his way to the wall off to the side. Zoro blinks, thinking he might have seen a flash of red on the other side.

The man mutters a quiet apology to the girl before tossing her over. Zoro doesn't hear her land.

Helmeppo turns towards Zoro and grins.

"We'll have to punish your bad behavior, Roronoa," Helmeppo says.

Instead of pulling out his usual pipe he pulls out a gun.

Zoro freezes.

And he thought Kuina left him in a bad mood.


	6. Where'd Life Go

Zoro's panicking, panicking badly. He doesn't show it on the outside, keeps his apathetic appearance up. He won't give Brat-face the pleasure of seeing Zoro squirm under the aim of the gun. He can see that Brat-face's friends are getting uneasy, shuffling on their feet and shifting their eyes.

_It's like the time him and Kuina had snuck into the back room at the kendo dojo and brought out Sensei's real katanas. They dualed that night, and Zoro had felt the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He had wanted to win so badly, but at the back of his head there was the fear of Kuina beating him for good._

_He cast it off as he made a sloppy lunge at her, his voice loud as he shouted out._

He's scared now, afraid that he really will die here before even reaching his goals in life. He'll die tied to some godforsaken telephone in some slum on the outside of a stupid city. Where the hell has his life gone?

He kind of wishes Johnny or Yosaku actually did find him now.

As Helmeppo cocks the gun and grins disgustingly wide Zoro hears a shuffling of fabric coming from over towards the wall. His head is working in overdrive and his eyes briefly glance over in that direction before flicking back to Brat-face. He pauses for a second before he splutters out a incomprehensive sound of surprise and whips his head back to the wall.

"Oi! Hippo-guy! You're pointing a gun at my friend!" a boyish voice calls over with an whiny tone.

Oh shitshitshitshitshit...what the hell was this brat doing here?

The kid looks angry as his mouth is pulled down in an annoyed frown, his scar giving him an unhappy appearance. He has a battered straw hat hanging by a string around his neck. His red hoodie has a splotch of what looks like blood on the corner.

His knuckles are raw and skinned.

_Don't go causing problems for others, Zoro. Someone will just have to clean up your mess._

He swears that if Kuina were there right then she'd have the smuggest look on her face.


	7. Demon Glare Failed

Helmeppo wobbled over his words as he nasally cries out, "What the hell are you doing here!"

The kid's frown furrows deeper.

"I'm taking my friend back and beating you up," he says smoothly, blinking that dumb look of his.

Brat-face steps back in shock, and then he frantically points a finger at Zoro. Zoro is still trying to comprehend how stupid this kid is...so far Zoro thinks he's very stupid.

"Roronoa is _your_ friend?" he screeches weakly, his hand wavering in the air.

The kid opens his mouth to answer but Zoro beats him to talking.

"I don't even know this brat! Get the hell out of here!" he snarls, angry that someone is interfering with his fight.

He pretends that he doesn't notice the knot of worry in the pit of his stomach. It's just hunger, right?

The kid smiles and places his hands on his hips.

"No! Shishishishi!"

Zoro's taken aback.

Zoro doesn't like being surprised like that.

Zoro does his demon glare.

The kid smiles wider.

Brat-face whips the gun at the kid instead.


	8. Mugiwara

The kid quickly charges forward and Helmeppo shakily tries to keep his aim on the speedy target. Helmeppo accidentally fires a shot, making Zoro strain against his restraints. It's _his_ fight damn it!

The kid clumsily rolled to the side, narrowly missing the bullet as it embedded itself at his former spot. The kid sits there for a moment and then breathes,

"That was close!"

Zoro wants to throttle the idiot.

The next moment the kid is a blur of movement and all Zoro sees is a flash of red before the kid is literally stepping onto Brat-face's chest, sending him toppling backwards. His gun slips out of his hand and skids on the ground for a few seconds. The kid jumps off Helmeppo like he's a springboard right before the brat falls.

Helmeppo's friends stand around him, gaping as they keep looking from the kid to their fallen leader. Helmeppo's face is red like a tomato, simply making him even more unattractive. There is several more seconds of shocked silence before Brat-face screeches to the heavens,

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU STANDING AROUND FOR?!"

They jump but hastily turn towards the kid. He's smiling like he's having the time of his life. The group hesitates, unsure as to how they should handle their current enemy.

The kid sticks out a tongue pulls on an eyelid.

That made up the group's mind to just recklessly charge. The kid laughs and starts running off in the other direction, the group trailing behind in a fluster of movement. They're soon out of sight, leaving Zoro yanking and pulling to get away from the telephone pole. Helmeppo is only now getting up off of the ground.

"That damn brat! Mugiwara!" he snarls, making haste as he follows the direction the group went.

Zoro shouts for his ugly face to get back here.

Ugly face doesn't come back, and he took the gun with him too.


	9. Doting Daddy

"-And Luffy-san said how he wasn't going to let Helmeppo break his promise with you, so he punched him in the middle of the street and-!" the cascade of words were almost too fast and too nervous to even process as the pink-haired kid desperately tried to untie Zoro's ropes.

"Wait, he did what?" Zoro broke into the story, shocked yet again for the umpteenth time that day.

In the distance Zoro heard a gunshot go off, making his nails dig harshly into his palm.

"Luffy-san punched Helmeppo and-!" the kid, (Coby was it?), was going to start his parade of words again so Zoro quickly cut in and told him to just untie these damn ropes instead.

"I can't believe that the police let people like Morgan and Helmeppo do as they please! It disgusts me! I've been trying for so long to get into the training program and now I don't even know if I want to!" the kid is nearly in tears and Zoro really doesn't quite know how the _hell_ he should handle this.

"Just. Hurry. The. Hell. Up," Zoro suddenly snarled, making the kid yelp as he only got shakier with his hands.

Of course, just his luck.

Zoro didn't even see anyone else come up, but all of a sudden a very loud and a _very_ close gunshot boomed and the Coby guy flew backwards, some of his blood splattering Zoro's shirt. Zoro whipped his head back as far as he could to see a very ugly man standing behind them. His one arm was missing a hand, and it had a tattoo of an axe on the shoulder. The man had a gun raised in his good hand, not shaking at all. He had about five men behind him, each holding their own guns.

Zoro could see the family resemblance.

Brat-face and his doting daddy Ugly-face.

Shit.


	10. Knots

"What the fuck is this? Why is there a ruin of a body on my private property?" Ugly-face snarls, the men behind him are nervous.

Oh yes, very similar to his son.

At this moment Coby decided to come back around, his eyes the size of identical moons and his hand gripping a bloody shoulder. Zoro watched, wondering if the kid was going to pass out again or break-.

"I'VE BEEN SHOT?!" he screeched, making a ringing in Zoro's ears.

...So Coby was the type to break down. At least he didn't piss himself.

Ugly-face frowns in disgust and points his gun again at Coby. Zoro is twisting his hands intensely, cutting his tender skin from four days worth of abuse. But fuck the pain, if he could Zoro would rather make things worse than be stuck to this damn pole for another minute.

"How dare you come onto my-!" Ugly-face began, only to be disrupted by a very loud laugh.

Everyone looked forward to see Mugiwara dragging Helmeppo across the lot...err or rather what Zoro assumed was Helmeppo. Brat-face's face was an array of blacks and blues and his nose was bleeding profusely. Zoro thinks it has got to hurt.

"Shishishi! You baka hippo! I told you I was going to beat you up!" Mugiwara is telling Helmeppo, lifting the brat close to his face to laugh.

Zoro thinks Mugiwara's carefree attitude is contagious because he pauses in his attempts to escape and is half-tempted to inform the kid that Helmeppo's name is not hippo.

And then Zoro shakes his head fiercely and thinks_ what the hell_.

"Oh, more people came," Mugiwara pauses a couple meters away from Zoro and Coby, finally noticing Ugly-face and his men.

"F-father! Help me-!" Helmeppo is beginning to weakly beg.

"Urusai!" Ugly shouts, making Helmeppo bite his lip for how quickly he shut his mouth.

"A useless son like you shouldn't be so weak!" he yells, once again cocking his gun towards Zoro and Coby.

Mugiwara must be blind or something because he drops Helmeppo, struts over to Zoro, and then starts pulling at the ropes that are keeping Zoro's left arm bound. He purses his lips and pulls.

"Luffy-san!" Coby's self-pitying attitude changes in an instant as he noticed Mugiwara standing in front of him.

Luffy tilts his head backs as he attempts to untie the restraints. He takes note of Coby's shoulder before he grins that shit-eating grin.

"Ooh! Cool wound, Coby!" he laughs.

Zoro shakes his head in amazement.

Coby smiles awkwardly in pride and exasperation.

Ugly-face's eye twitches in anger.

Luffy turns around to face Zoro again and sticks his tongue out in concentration, his fingers fumbling.

"Hurry up, Axe-guy doesn't seem too happy with us," Zoro says absentmindedly.

Luffy grins at him and then points at the knot he was working on.

"I think I made it worse."


	11. Poor Sod

Luffy's been distracted for the past few days.

Ace had ignored it, brushed it off easily. Ace knew that his little brother had the attention span of a two-year-old, so of course Luffy would get amused with the simplest of things.

It's just that ever since he had left three years ago, Luffy had made it a habit to always be able to answer his calls. If his little brother had happened to miss the call, he'd be sure to get back to Ace as soon as possible. It was just one of those things. They both knew that Ace was busy a lot, so he didn't call as frequently as they both would want, but either way the phone calls were not something they would miss.

So why the hell had Luffy missed his call two days ago and had yet to still contact him back?

"Awe, look, Marco! Ace is getting fretful over his adorable little brother! How cute!" Thatch chirps, leaning into Ace so that he dropped his phone onto his plate.

Ace glares angrily, whacking Thatch upside the head.

"Hey now, mother hen. Don't get your panties in a bunch!" Thatch continued, smiling evilly as he danced away from Ace's fist.

That's it...the motherfucker has to die now.

Ace jumped over his seat, beginning a common act of chasing Thatch around the room angrily and throwing cuss words at him right and left. Marco looked up from the newspaper, watching the two in mild irritation and some amusement.

"Baka-yoi, you know better than to irritate him before he's finished his meal," the blond called out to the snickering Thatch.

Ace finally caught his offender and as the two got into a tangle of limbs and flying punches he forced himself to just let the situation with Luffy go.

C'mon, it's his ADHD brother. Of course Luffy was probably just busy or something. Maybe he was even making some poor sod as worried as Ace was.


	12. Coward's Shackles

Reviews, favorites, and alerts are great motivators.  
See what I did there?

* * *

Coby admired Luffy-san.

Luffy-san had helped him get out of that abusive house, the one where that terrible woman Alvida had been keeping him for so long. It had been such a rush, the events that had happened when the coward had met the brave whirlwind of life.

Luffy had left all his abusers a mess and dazed, some limp in the yard and others cowering in the attic. Coby was astonished, so surprised that someone was willing to put himself in such danger for something they believed in. It had been what Coby wanted to make himself into when he was a child.

So when his hero was stepping outside the front door and paused to turn around, Coby was not expecting the next few words to come out of his mouth.

"Well? Are you coming?"

And Coby had walked away from that torturous life, ready to start on his dreams. The police who arrived later would never know that a kid had been stuck in that place and walked away with his shackles off. They would arrest the criminals, put out a warrant for a dangerous man, and not expect anyone to find said-man. The job was done, they didn't really care about the one who brought the Alvida Gang down.

Afterall, gang fights were common enough.

So although Coby knew that if he wanted to become a police officer he would have to leave his hero's side, he was still willing to help Luffy-san. Even if it meant helping a possible green-haired Yakuza member escape the clutches of such terrible people. Even if it meant putting his life on the line.

He had told Rika this when Luffy-san and him caught her on the other side of the wall. Luffy-san had already clambered over the bricks at this point, so he might or might not have heard. Either way, Coby was happy to say his thoughts out loud.

So as Coby tensely heaved himself after Luffy, Rika ran off. Her eyes were burning with a new emotion, one of hope and determination.

It was the start of the infinite circles.


	13. Inevitable Insanity

RedKetchup is a bit of an greedy author.

RedKetchup requests one or two favorites. Ya know, to quench the greedy monster inside.

* * *

Zoro had one arm free, only one. It was enough through.

"Oi Mugiwara! Go take Helmeppo's switchblade, hurry," Zoro snapped, tension high. He knew Helmeppo kept a blade in his pocket, after all Brat-face shoved it in his face a few times to scare him.

It didn't work. Zoro had been raised around blades, so another one wasn't going to scare him.

Mugiwara raised his eyebrows and paused his attempts to untie Zoro.

"Okay," he says.

Axe-hand had lowered his gun in surprise a few minutes ago, but he had whipped it up again when he saw Mugiwara turning away and heading towards his son. Zoro could see his finger curling in on the trigger as though everything went on slow motion.

"_Hurry_!" He hissed, a bead of sweat dripping down the side of his face.

Coby raised himself to his feet and his body is shaking in fear as he looks towards the guns.

Luffy is fishing in a cowering Helmeppo's pockets.

Zoro's _pretty_ sure he's going to die.

He whips his head forward desperately as he sees Mugiwara dashing back towards him. He blinks in mild surprise at Mugiwara's tense smile. He'd figure after seeing it almost for the whole fight that he'd grow used to it, but he still couldn't shake off how this brat was still able to be so relaxed when he could be the next one dead.

Zoro strains his free arm out to meet Luffy's outstretched one, offering the blade to the restrained teen.

_Reach!_

Maybe Kuina would have been like this if she had lived. She'd be cocky and unafraid of this danger and maybe smiling a little bit. Zoro mulls it over in the next few milliseconds.

No...no Kuina wouldn't be like this.

Mugiwara is just**_ insane_.**


	14. Funny Side

_"Making an animal of yourself relieves the pain of being a man," the teacher's dull voice had infiltrated Zoro's sleepy mind as he sat half-asleep at his desk._

_This had been one of Zoro's bad periods. Those days or months where Zoro hated everything and honestly did not even understand why life just had to cast him off like trash. Zoro handled it very well in his opinion._

_He treated life like it was a motherfucker instead._

_Johnny and Yosaku had to get him really drunk one night to get the guts to suggest that Zoro might need to go back to dojo, try out the swords again._

_Even in his drunken state Zoro did manage to give them both a hard punch to their heads._

_It was just that ever since she broke their promise and fell down those steps, he couldn't quite make the blades obey him anymore. He had taken Wado out of its scabbard one day, used the magnificent sword for intense training that had left him sore for days after. He didn't understand why he couldn't complete the one move, and tried and tried until he dropped all three swords on the floor in exhaustion.  
_

_He felt nauseous, being unable to hold Wado Ichimonji without thinking that he might never be able to join his will with Wado's._

_Sensei had watched from afar for days, never saying anything or offering some kind of assistance. Zoro would have refused any help anyway, so Kuina's father merely watched as his best pupil struggled with the world. Either way, though, his teacher's silence drove the green-haired boy insane.  
_

_After all__, Zoro knew how to handle anger and bitter animosity. He didn't understand how to handle the nonexistent feelings that were ambushing him._

_So on one of the days where Zoro was panting and heaving breaths on the dojo floor from hard training, Sensei had walked over and sat beside him.  
_

_The silence was deafening. It was pressing down and drowning the student, and the teacher waited a little longer before he spoke._

_"It was neither of our faults, you understand that right? We both might have done or continue to do things that disgrace her memory but-," Sensei stops talking at Zoro's broken expression. _

_He also stopped because he was struggling with his own words._

_Zoro's head is pounding and his blood is flowing and he can't quite tell if it's sweat or tears on his face._

_Sensei seems to be having an internal battle with himself, so instead of continuing what he started he chooses to say something very not like himself._

_"You can't really become strong until you see a funny side to things."_

* * *

Mugiwara had practically all of his teeth showing as his lips curled upwards even higher. Zoro sees this out of the corner of his eye, but is mostly focused on Axe-hand.

The man has wide eyes and his feet are slowly tipping back onto his heels. Zoro watches as the large male tumbles to his back in a very ungraceful way, his shirt bloody and staining the muddy ground.

Zoro hadn't cut him deeply, only enough to slightly injure him. His followers watched the scene unfold the whole time, silent and shocked.

"Sugoi! Nice one, Zoro!" Mugiwara laughs, enjoying every second.

Zoro looks back and is smirking smugly despite his attempts not to.

"Heh...yeah."


	15. Police

Axe-hand, now fallen and laying in the dirt, is twitching ever so slightly. The nerves in his fingers are seizing, but they soon settle as the man slowly lets himself blackout.

Zoro keeps his armed hand ready to move in with the switchblade if any of the other men decide to turn on him. Angled behind him the pink-haired kid has his jaw on the ground and he can hear Mugiwara slowly walking up to stand beside Zoro.

"Shishishi!" the kid laughs, cracking his knuckles as he stares at the group before him.

Zoro looks over to him.

"Are you still finding this funny? I feel like all the good parts are over now," he says.

Luffy vigorously nods in agreement.

"Yeah, none of the tough ones are left now."

Coby makes a choking sound of complete astoundment while Helmeppo makes a half-conscious moan of fear. The armed men are lowering their guns uncertainly. Zoro notices that one of them is trying to fight back a smile as he looks down at Axe-hand and then back towards Helmeppo.

Zoro knows that look, the look of finally being released from something. He'd be happy for the guys if they hadn't put him in a bad mood in the first place.

"Put your hands up! Lower your weapons! We have you surrounded!" A booming voice orders firmly from behind everyone.

Zoro and Luffy whip around to be greeted with several cops pulling up in police cruisers and stepping out of their cars with their guns raised.

Zoro blinks in surprise, Luffy pouts.

* * *

In the end Zoro and Luffy got off with no charges, Brat-face and his doting daddy are shoved into the cars along with their men, and Coby is being shipped into the back of an ambulance. They tried shoving Zoro along with him but he scared off the medics with a fierce snarl, so they just went with simple first-aid.

Luffy said that they should still go, so that they can make them turn the sirens on. Zoro laughs hysterically.

Some police officers explain that a little girl named Rika and her mother testified to the actions that Axe-hand Morgan and his son had been committing illegally for several years now. They kept quiet out of fear of receiving the wrath of Morgan, but since Zoro, Luffy, and Coby inspired her so much she insisted on informing the police. The whole neighborhood started pitching in after they had learned what the girl had done.

"You boys are quite the heroes supposedly. You should consider becoming a part of the police force," the officer says, but Luffy frowns irritably.

"No," he says bluntly.

Zoro hits him upside the head to silently tell him to shut up.

_Don't go causing more problems._

The police officer quickly forgets it and then asks if they need a ride home or to the hospital.

They both decline the offer quickly.

The officer is completely off-guard as they turn away from him with little interest.

"Let's go eat," Luffy says.

Zoro grunts, finally noticing the terrible hunger in his stomach. Zoro doesn't completely trust this Mugiwara kid yet, but if he's willing to go buy some food then he'd tag along for a little longer.

They are about a block away from the crime scene, with Luffy helping Zoro walk with his ankle, when Luffy casually says,

"I wish I knew where we were."

"Ehh?!"

"Hey! I wonder if that little girl and her mom will feed us? Yosh! Let's go get some meat!"

Zoro wonders what he has gotten himself into.


	16. In Which the Deaf Learn to Hear

Rika's mom is a really good cook, a medical-smart person, and an aggressive driver.

Zoro had the unfortunate luck of finding out all of these things in one day.

And before Zoro goes into any real details, let him just say that the Luffy kid can eat...a lot. Like, enough to make a person who had just gone for days without eating look like a mild eater. Zoro was somewhat disturbed when he watched the kid inhale two apples and about three pieces of meat at once, but it's not like it's a big deal or anything.

Anyway, Rika's mom came and found them after they left the crime scene. She practically shoved them into the car and for the next twenty minutes of driving she spent it ranting about heroes and bastards named Morgan and something about having to pay her water bill. She went through several stop signs, and Zoro think he might have had a heart attack at one point when there was a near car crash.

Zoro feels like his life might be filled with a lot more near heart attacks with all of these crazy people.

...He doesn't actually feel too upset about that.

So the four of them made it back to Rika's apartment, where her mom made enough food to feed an army...or a green-haired teen and a kid with a mugiwara boushi on.

Rika crawled onto his lap at one point and his mom gave him some alcohol, which seemed like a really good idea since he just had one hell of a week. She asked if he was over twenty-one, but he was already drinking it by that point. That Luffy guy was loud and hyper, and the mom kept laughing from the hall as she went to go find some crutches to give to Zoro.

It was nice.

The day ended with Zoro being dropped off at his apartment, with Luffy hanging halfway out the car window and shouting something that he couldn't quite comprehend with the meat sticking out of his mouth. Rika waved enthusiastically from inside the car and she didn't stop until he couldn't see them anymore.

Zoro knew he would have to explain to his landlord why his rent was late, tell his boss why he hasn't shown up these past few days, put up with Johnny and Yosaku's teary questions, and deal with the consequences of not showing up to school.

And now deal with some attached Mugiwara kid.

Zoro sighed as he hobbled over to his bed, just wanting to get some sleep. He flopped down ungracefully and turned onto his side.

He was asleep within minutes.

* * *

Zoro woke up at 2:43 AM to a noise, as his half-broken alarm clock informed him in glaringly bright red numbers. He was about to go back to sleep when he heard the sound again.

_ Here...over here._

His gaze drifted across the room to stop once upon a white scabbard.

His heart beat loudly in his chest.

He could finally hear Wado.


End file.
